Light from black hole mergers
Phil Armitage, JILA
Observing the cosmological growth of black holes, by measuring
the gravitational waves emitted during binary coalescences, is
one of the primary scientific goals of the LISA mission. These
events are rare, but although they are likely dim in electromagnetic
emission they may not be entirely dark. Quantifying the
electromagnetic
signatures of merging supermassive black holes would allow accurate
identifications of LISA sources, and, perhaps more excitingly, open
the prospect of finding coalescences from large sky surveys within
the next decade. I will review the physical mechanisms that may
yield observable electromagnetic counterparts, and discuss progress
in estimating their likely properties.